"All this region is very level and full of forests, vines and butternut trees. No Christian has ever visited this land and we had all the misery of the world trying to paddle the river upstream." Samuel de Champlain

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Protection of drinking water - The province drops the town of Ristigouche

My translation of an article published in an independent newspaper.

The Gaspésie Peninsula municipality is forced to collect funds to defend itself against the oil company Gastem.

The small municipality of Ristigouche Sud-Est, in the Gaspésie, keeps contacting directly the Minister of Municipal Affairs Pierre Moreau to get his help, but Le Devoir has learned that Quebec will not step in the case of the lawsuit initiated by the oil company Gastem. With no way to defend itself, the town has to have a funding campaign to pay for its legal fees.

"The Ministry is showing its ignorance when it comes to our situation, said François Boulay, Mayor of Ristigouche Sud-Est on Monday. It is offensive. Either they do not understand anything, or they are tuning us out."

The Mayor did contact the Municipal Affairs Ministry many times. He finally wrote directly to Minister Pierre Moreau to ask to see him. "I ask the Minister to meet him so he can help me find a solution, explained Mr Boulay. I did not ask for money. I simply stated the facts and explained our situation."

The situation is like this: Ristigouche Sud-Est was sued by Gastem in August 2013 because it passed a bylaw to protect drinking water, which had the effect of blocking exploration projects of the oil company. AS per the wording of the motion filed in Superior Court, the Municipality "overstepped its authority by creating out of nowhere a nuisance by banning an exploration activity presenting no serious inconvenience and in no way susceptible of undermining in any way public health or the well being of the community".

The company, whose president is the previous Liberal Raymond Savoie, is claiming $1,5 million to refund the investments it says went to a drilling project. It does not want to go on working in that area. It has even ceded its exploration permits to Petrolia.

Quebec says No

For the town of Ristigouche Sud-Est, the amount of money demanded is simply out of proportion. One has to know that the total budget for the municipality for fiscal year 2014 is $275,000. "We don't even have the means to get us to the end of the lawsuit.", said François Boulay Monday.

Knowing about the fate of the municipality, Minister Morau refused to meet with the Mayor. "We have to tell you that the ministry cannot interfere in a question pertaining to a judicial procedure", wrote the ministry in a short letter of which Le Devoir received a copy.

In a written answer sent Monday, the Ministry pointed out that it does not have a "programme to help municipalities caught up in legal lawsuits". It added "interventions in financial aid affairs to help municipalities defend themselves while in court disputes are exceptional cases."

The spokesperson for Minister Pierre Moreau did say that he is "aware of the plight of the citizens and the municipality in this case and will continue to closely follow the evolution of events."

These answers are simply not enough for the Mayor of Ristigouche Sud-Est. He thinks there is no doubt that the government has its share of responsibility in this current dead-end. He thinks that Quebec has "waited too long" to pass the Regulation of water withdrawal and protection (RPEP), that came through last week. If it had been in place during the summer of 2012, he thinks that Gastem would not have received it's drilling permit.

As for the Quebec municipality union, they have also refuse to comment on this subject Monday. "We shall look at this very closely", simply answered the spokesperson Jules Chamberland-Lajoie. As for the Mutual of municipalities, the insurance company for Ristigouche Sud-Est, it refuses to pay for the defence costs of the municipality.

$225,000 must be found

In a real financial dead-end, the municipality has no choice but to launch a fund raising campaign to "deal with the Gastem lawsuit", the Devoir has learned. The objective is $225,000. Many Mayors in Quebec must also jump at the occasion to bring their support to Mayor Boulay.

Some 70 Quebec municipalities have passed the bylaw called "de Saint-Bonaventure". Many among them are in the St. Lawrence Valley and have done so to stop shale gas exploration and exploitation.

These municipal rules are as of now being replaced by the RPEP prepared by the Philippe Couillard government. For the first time, it determines the "minimum distance" that must be allowed between a drilling site and a drinking water source. It must be 500 meters. This distance could increase depending on the conclusions of the hydro-geological study that will be required by Quebec.

I'm the second generation of my family that lives in Richelieu, Quebec, in Canada. My family tree, both from my mother's and my father's side, has its roots in Quebec since the beginning of the 1600s: my ancestors crossed the ocean from France, leaving Perche and Normandy behind them. Both French AND English are my mother tongues: I learned to talk in both languages when I was a baby, and both my parents were perfectly bilingual too.